Technology makes hearing aids smaller, sleeker and easier to use

As the first to market Made for iPhone hearing aid, ReSound LiNX is a completely customizable and discreet option for wearers. With this new device, wearers can stream high-quality audio into their hearing aids from their Apple device.
— ReSound LiNx

As the first to market Made for iPhone hearing aid, ReSound LiNX is a completely customizable and discreet option for wearers. With this new device, wearers can stream high-quality audio into their hearing aids from their Apple device.
/ ReSound LiNx

When audiologists such as Dr. David Illich began practicing years ago, hearing aids were bulky. They were also designed to be removed at night or when showering or swimming, making the world of sound go dull to the person suffering from hearing loss.

But not anymore.

Like most technology in recent years, such as cellphones and computers, hearing aids have gotten smaller and sleeker, more advanced in what they’re able to do and easier for people to use.

“There (have) been more technological changes in the last three years than in the last 10 years,” said Illich, who serves as chief audiologist at Palomar Hospital in Poway.

In fact, he said hearing aid technology has evolved to the point where a patient recently told him that for the first time in decades he’s forgotten he has hearing loss.

Today, said Dr. Meghan Spriggs, a senior audiologist at the University of California, San Diego, hearing aids have improved in countless ways. They’ve evolved to the point, she said, where users can sync them with a Bluetooth headset for their cellphones and stream phone calls through the device.

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In addition, earlier this year, the first iPhone-compatible hearing aid — The ReSound LiNX — was introduced. The device, which is also compatible with iPads and iPod touches, lets users adjust features such as hearing aid volume, and bass and treble in each ear through an app. The device can also be used to stream music, listen to GPS directions and make phone calls through a Bluetooth. It also comes with a “Find My Hearing Aid” feature to help track down the hearing aid if it’s misplaced.

Illich said the device will also allow the iPhone’s personal assistant, Siri, to read emails to users through their hearing aids.

One of the features Illich said he likes best is that the model is “extremely user friendly.” He said a patient in his 90s recently came in for the phone-compatible hearing aid and knew how to use it within minutes.

“He took it over,” Illich said. “He walked out of the office (happy) like a little kid.”

In addition to working with phone technology, Spriggs said hearing aids are smaller and less noticeable than in the past.

She also said many people with hearing aids often heard squealing or whistling sounds, called feedback. But today most hearing aids stop that issue before it happens.

Connectivity is also better; there’s less fiddling with volume in noisy places because many automatically tone down unwanted sounds; and some have microphones that can identify speech while turning down background noise.

Illich said there are now hearing aids that can be worn 24/7 instead of being removed at night or in the shower.

The Lyric hearing aid is worn for three months straight and users can sleep or shower with the device in the ear. It’s also hidden deep in the ear canal — just 4 millimeters from the eardrum — so it’s completely invisible. — LYRIC

The Lyric hearing aid is worn for three months straight and users can sleep or shower with the device in the ear. It’s also hidden deep in the ear canal — just 4 millimeters from the eardrum — so it’s completely invisible.
/ LYRIC

He said the Lyric hearing aid is worn for three months straight and users can sleep or shower with the device in the ear. It’s also hidden deep in the ear canal — just four millimeters from the eardrum – so it’s completely invisible. When the battery dies after a few months, the device is removed and replaced with a new one. Instead of paying for a new hearing aid each time, patients pay an annual subscription fee.